Ain't No Sunshine
by fullmoonrisin
Summary: It's been three months since Kid Flash ceased to be, and in that time Artemis has found it increasingly more difficult to go on without him. Can she learn to cope or will an odd twist of fate bring them back together? Spitfire RxR!


Hey guys! I'm new to the Young Justice fandom. In fact, Endgame was my first episode! Anyway, I've caught up and I decided to do the obligatory post-Endgame fic because even as a new viewer that ending was heartbreaking. I think you all know I don't own jack. I hope you enjoy! R&R

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Artemis Crock heaved a sorrowful sigh as she turned her Tigress mask over in her hands for what seemed like the thousandth time. Over the course of the last three months, bouts of pensive brooding and contemplation had become commonplace for the archer, and each day without Wally felt like a slow, agonizing eternity. She glared into the eyes of the mask in her hands, projecting all of her negative emotions onto the façade it represented.

She hated Tigress.

She had never really cared for the persona when she'd gone undercover, but now she absolutely hated the costume and everything it represented: Namely, a life without Wallace Rudolph West.

At first, she had thought that space from that life was what she needed after Kid Flash had ceased to exist in this world, but with each passing day she came to realize even more that she wanted—needed—everything the same. At least as close to the same as it could be.

The Tigress mantle was gone after only a little more than two weeks. Since then, Artemis had been back in her old green, but it still wasn't the same. Every now and then she would see Bart on the battlefield and think that maybe the nightmare she had been living really was just a dream, and then she'd realize that the man behind the Kid Flash mask wasn't Wally. The Palo Alto apartment that she once shared with the speedster was also a shadow of what used to be. Wally's scent still lingered throughout the place and its presence was both haunting and comforting. His smile in the framed Photos on the wall both mocked and soothed her.

In general, there seemed to be a dark cloud looming over the junior heroes. Wally had been a fixture within the Team even during his retirement and on top of that was a genuine friend to them all. Each member was still mourning in their own way and had found the strength to move on, but each realized that their pain was dull compared to their broken comrade. Sure, she was still an ever capable combatant, but that was just about it. Each member of the team had noticed Artemis becoming something of a machine simply going about the motions of everyday life. If they were lucky, one of them would be afforded a brief glimpse of puffy, bloodshot eyes as the archer rushed to hide her pain away and stay strong for her friends. Even Jade had been concerned when she had walked in on her sister upon returning to pick up Lian having an emotional breakdown in their childhood bedroom.

"Artemis?" Nightwing's voice was gentle and tentative, akin to the act trying to drive with an egg under the gas pedal without breaking that egg.

In the past she might've spoken to the team leader, but now the only acknowledgement he received was a head turn in his direction. Though he was used to the sight, his eyes still widened slightly at the dark circles that were visible underneath her eyes from behind the green mask.

"Mission." He said simply. The hero knew that her skills were needed for this job, but he wasn't looking forward to sending her back _there._

"Is that all the information you have?" Her brow rose only slightly as she spoke with a rare hint of her former sarcasm that was overshadowed by its monotonous delivery.

Nightwing sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, reluctant to speak such cruel words to the broken heroine.

"We have evidence that remnants of the Reach may be regrouping…in the Arctic."

Her reaction was the first sign her true self that anyone had seen in weeks. Grayson watched as various emotions played out in those gray eyes. The immediate response was a wide eyed look of horror as her brain struggled to come to grips with the information. Surely she hadn't heard him right. She just couldn't go back to the place where she'd lost _him_…it was far too soon.

Then wide eyes narrowed into angry slits as she found resolve deep within herself. The Reach was responsible for her loss. If they were regrouping, she would stop them! Her fists clenched and fingernails dug into her palms.

"When do we leave?"

Dick smiled, happy to see that some vibrancy had returned to his friend, even if it was brought on by the desire to beat some old foes to a bloody pulp.

"In about an hour. M'gann and Superboy will be going with you."

With that Artemis turned to leave the Memorial Garden, but Nightwing still had more to say.

"Oh, and one other thing…"

"What?" The archer demanded flatly, turning back to face the former Robin. She knew that tone. It was that amused tone that said 'I know something you don't and you aren't going to like it.' She wasn't disappointed.

"Cheshire is accompanying you three as well."

The glare he received was far worse than anything the green archer could've actually said. "What? Why?" He could tell she was outraged if not a little indignant and sensed that she already knew why her sister would go on such a trying mission with her. He made a calming gesture with his hands before the spitfire could get too wound up as he attempted to explain himself to her.

"Just...hear me out. Okay? I knew you wouldn't want to go back there so soon, so I spoke to Red Arrow about it first. It was his idea to send you." He paused momentarily and grew sheepish, suddenly finding his boots very interesting. "I didn't know that Jade was in the room listening the entire time."

With a decidedly unhappy grunt, Artemis turned on her heel and stomped toward the main room of the tower, leaving Dick to stare after her from where he stood in the gardens. After a moment he turned to regard Wally's hologram with an expression of sadness.

"Wish you were here, bro."

And that was how Artemis came to be in her current position, sandwiched between her sister and Connor as the group hunkered down behind a crate to observe the activity of several unknown workers. There were machines of various shapes and sizes scattered all around the tents of this camp, suggesting that the group hadn't been around long enough to properly set up. So far they had yet to catch a glimpse of anyone who seemed to be of importance.

They were very nearly caught when a worker suddenly came around the corner, but M'gann just managed to act fast enough to use her powers on him and make him think he was alone.

"Perhaps we should find a better spot." Conner suggested with the group agreeing as everyone made to move around a corner to a new vantage point that put their backs toward the arctic tundra. Once they'd hunkered back down, Artemis chanced a brief glance behind them and her eyes widened at the familiar sight of the crater left by the device three months ago. This was where _it_ happened.

A knowing smile spread across Cheshire's lips as she witnessed the subtle behavior of her sister beside her.

"So tell me, little sister," Jade spoke once the archer had turned her attention back to the task at hand, "Does my concern have merit?"

Perhaps even more stubborn now than before the incident, Artemis snapped back, "I'll be fine!"

"It appears we've missed something." The half-Kryptonian mused, looking out at the crater for himself, "Look closer." The four of them turned their attention to a detail that Artemis had overlooked, and Jade had deemed unimportant. All around the crater there were holes of varying size and depth. Some of the holes were obviously freshly dug due to their depth and crisp look, others had obviously been left to be filled up again by snow storms and wind.

"The snow!" M'gann gasped as she noticed the holes, "It's being dug up; but why?"

"And who?" The archer added, as the group glanced back toward the hub of the camp's activity where they spotted two people exiting the largest tent. The first was a man of imposing stature and even from their fair distance the group could sense that he was the authority figure. His suit was an expensive brand that sent the message that he was a man who got what he wanted. They were looking at him from the back side, but something about him was oddly familiar…especially the bald head.

They continued to watch as the man was handed a large suitcase. The assassin of the group had been present at enough cash hand offs to know that the money in that case could probably buy the Taj Mahal.

The man making the payment also looked somewhat familiar. In contrast to the bald man's suit, his was a good deal cheaper and his sandy blonde hair sat atop his head in a smooth, slicked back fashion. Each one of the scouts had been staring hard at them, trying to catch a good enough glimpse of a face until both men turned and began walking straight in their direction toward one of the machines.

"Is that…Lex?" Artemis yelped in recognition, still wondering what business he could possibly have here.

"Then the other one must be G. Gordon." Jade concluded astutely, watching as the men continued to move closer.

"I still don't understand why they're here." M'gann pondered aloud. Superboy offered an answer.

"I'm not sure, but I think I heard something about Speed Force."

"Well…" Jade drawled out in her usual cavalier manner, "whatever that is, we can be sure of one thing: Luthor never does anything that doesn't serve his own agenda."

"Right, and his agenda is rarely good for anyone else, so whatever this Speed Force thing is, it's probably gonna suck."

They had been watching for over half an hour in the freezing cold and it felt like they were only getting more questions than answers. The whole puzzle coupled with being back at the site where Wally disappeared after only three months was leaving Artemis feeling more irritable. Not to mention that being here, just a few yards from where it happened, was ripping open the wound all over again when it hadn't even healed yet. It was imperative that she remain strong though. She'd have to if they were going to kick Luthor's ass…a prospect that was beginning to look more appealing by the minute.

Suddenly, as the group watched Lex type commands into the large machine, they heard a computerized voice from behind them.

"Intruders in Section Delta. Intruders in Section Delta."

A droid? There hadn't been any droids when they got to the camp!

Superboy was the quickest to react, spinning around and planting a gloved fist firmly inside of the droid's chest area. He was startled to realize that the machine had the appearance of a human.

As if they were all four parts of a marionette being controlled at the same time by a single puppeteer, each of the four turned back to the rest of the camp with wide eyes to realize that every single person in the camp was looking straight in their direction…only they weren't workers. With the exception of Luthor and Godfrey, every single one of the beings who had previously been masquerading as humans had taken their true forms. There were at least forty of them now, as if some had just appeared from nowhere.

"Well," Megan chuckled nervously, "That makes about ten for each of us, right?"

"What are you waiting for!?" Luthor barked "Get them!"

Just like that, the droids snapped to attention at the sound of their master's voice, then leapt at the group. Each person leapt in a different direction to get away from the impending onslaught. Megan levitated off the ground and sent a group of the mechanical fiends flying through the air right of the bat. Artemis and Jade combat rolled in opposite directions, mirroring each other as they rapidly drew their respective weapons. Connor was quickly overtaken by a swarm of the brutes, yet try as they might; the brutes were not strong enough for the half Kryptonian. So far, he was the only one of the group to successfully dispose of a droid. It was a fact that the chrome domed billionaire had anticipated given that he had designed his machines to withstand a wide range of assault.

"It's no use!" He taunted, turning back to his machine and typing in more commands. "You can't destroy them."

Artemis didn't take that well, glaring at the words as she dodged a group of droids and wound up back to back with Megan.

"We'll see about that!" She growled through gritted teeth, yanking a trick arrow from her quiver and rushing to string it, drawing it back with lighting speed that was almost worthy of The Flash and releasing it just as quickly to find its mark in the forehead of a droid. The electricity of the trick arrow crackled, emanating first from the head and then spreading down the rest of the body.

Artemis watched with triumph as the mechanical slave fell to its knees and "died" and vaguely noted that Super Boy had been quite busy and now the battle was much more favorable. She hesitated only for a moment before stringing several more arrows and taking down a few more droids, but her winning streak was short lived. Just after her fourth hit, Cheshire's panicked warning cries met her ears and she turned to find that the first droid she had taken out was back on its feet and ready for round two. The archer realized it was too late to act as she was met with what was sure to be an energy beam so she did the only thing she could: she shut her eyes tied and steeled herself against it, bracing herself for the pain of death. In the back of her mind she registered a hint of déjà vu from the botched training exercise. Who knew she would actually die that way?

The rest of the battle and time itself seemed to freeze entirely as the other three squad members stopped in mid assault and looked on with varying degrees of horror on their faces at the archer's impending death. For M'gann, it was a nightmare come true, if only for how similar it was to the training exercise. She still had nightmares about that incident. Jade, on the other hand, was both horrified and utterly furious at the turn of events. This is precisely what she had come on this mission to prevent, instead she was forced to sit idly by and watch as she had her face rubbed in the fact that she was a failure as a sister for the final time. Conner merely looked on grimly with a quiet acceptance of his friend's fate despite feeling helpless to do anything.

All this had transpired in just a split second and still Artemis waited for death. A part of her even welcomed it on some level if it meant that she would finally be free of months away from Wally, but after a moment of anticipation and a bright light behind her eyelids she began to grow confused. She was even more confused when she felt herself _moving_. Slowly, tentatively, she opened an eye in fear of what she might see in case she had actually been killed. Nothing could have prepared her for what she actually saw.

In the middle of the impermanent camp, the battle had resumed with only ten droids remaining. The surprise was that she was moving at super speed and felt a familiar embrace that she had missed for three months around her. Artemis' widened eyes wandered up into the face of her lover as she desperately sought to confirm that he was really here, and not some figment of her imagination.

"Wally?" She asked, in a shaky, slightly disbelieving voice as tears came to her eyes.

In response, he came to a stop in the middle of the camp, putting her down and flashing her a brief smile that said they would talk later. Just like that he was off helping Connor to destroy the remaining droids, and showing off incredible new abilities as well. The remaining trio had since stopped trying all together and Jade had even settled for apprehending Lex and Godfrey, both of whom were too stunned by Kid Flash's emergence from the speed force to say much.

"So, your boyfriend seems to have picked up some new tricks." Jade teased, elbowing her sister in the ribs and watching as he created cyclones that engulfed three of the five remaining droids. Artemis sank down to the ground, feeling a bit lightheaded at the drastic shift her life had taken in just a few minutes.

"Yeah…"

A short time later, Connor dispatched the final droid and put an end to the battle. The Kid Flash took a moment to greet his friend before setting his sights on Artemis. He strode over to her and hovered above her just waiting for her to notice his presence. He hadn't even realized that Jade and M'gann had both suddenly found something important to do far away from the two of them.

Artemis gave a small jerk as she seemed to register his feet in front of her for the first time. She slowly looked up at him and that brief moment was all it took for silent tears to spill down her face as the pain of three months without this man overwhelmed her.

"Are you really here?" Her tone was small and fragile. In fact, the pitiful sound of this unknown voice was so foreign to Wally that he searched deep into his memories of her and realized that even in her saddest states; he had never heard her sound so defeated…had never heard her sound so childlike.

"I'm no ghost!" He confirmed, that smile that Artemis so loved spreading over his amazing features. God, she wanted to jump him, to hug him and never let go, to kiss every inch of his body a thousand times and then beat his ass for putting her through three solid months of the worst hell she could imagine. For some reason, though, she found herself rooted where she sat. The sheer astonishment she felt hung over her like a giant weight. Then Wally offered his hand to her and that was it. She grabbed it and sprang up to her feet and into his arms in a movement so agile that the fastest boy alive could scarcely keep up with it. In an instant, her arms were around his neck like a vice as she clung firmly to his uniform with her fists. He eagerly reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her slender frame and reacquainting himself with the feel of her…and the smell of her as he buried his face in her blonde locks.

He relaxed into the feel of her hand massaging his scalp and her lips caressing his shoulder, collar bone and neck while he planted a few of his own kisses to her hair and rubbed her back in soothing motions in an attempt to calm the sobs that wracked her body. He felt tears beginning to scratch at his own eyes when it began to sink in that he was home. When he'd disappeared into the speed force, he thought he would never see this woman again, and here she was in his arms! He tightened his grip on her even as her own grip tightened and she pulled back just enough to look at him and smile in spite of her, puffy, tear stained face.

"You idiot!" She reached up and stroked his cheek affectionately, holding his head in both hands. He responded with a toothy smile and reached up to hold her hands. "I don't know if I should kiss you or kill you for doing that to me."

He leaned in close and touched his forehead to hers, breathing in the smell of Jasmine, peach shampoo, and a hint of sweat from the fight she'd just been engaged in. "Well…we're about as alone as we're going to get for a few days, so…?" He leaned in a little further, daring her to take the bait as he brought his left hand to cradle the side of her face.

Artemis needed no more prodding. Three months had been far too long to wait and she was more than ready. The archer pounced, closing the very short gap that remained between them and grabbing a fistful of Wally's red hair. The sparks that ignited made them both slightly weak in the knees. Each one was struggling to get as close as possible to the other despite the fact that they couldn't possibly be any closer. Wally raked a hand through Artemis' thick golden locks as the other hand roamed her belly and their tongues explored the old territory.

Neither one noticed that in the midst of their passion they had both sunk to their knees in the snow and both were crying. Eventually, the need for air forced the pair apart and they stared at each other for a long moment. Each one studied the other's face intently, searching for even the tiniest change…and maybe just a little fearful that they might wake up from a dream.

Artemis was the first to find her voice, clutching Wally tightly around the neck again as three months of misery continued to drain from her. "Don't you ever leave me again, Wally. I don't think I can survive it again."

Wally simply frowned at the thought and then returned her embrace, happy to be back where he belonged. He resolved that he didn't care what came his way, nothing would ever pull him away from her from this day on. He gently kissed her head as he replied.

"Never again, Artemis. Never again."

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Alright! So, there's my first YJ fic. I hope you enjoyed it! Please R&R!


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